On Jan. 27 two climbing teams completed separate, parallel new routes on Cerro Torre — an ice-frosted needle of rock, a “shriek turned to stone,” in the words of Reinhold Messner — a peak in Argentine Patagonia considered by many to be the most beautiful mountains on earth.
Any ascent of Cerro Torre is to be celebrated, but first ascents are very few and far between. That two occurred simultaneously is almost unbelievable. Both are massive, 4,000-foot routes which ascend sheer granite, snow and ice starting on the east face and finishing on the north face, ranking among Patagonia’s most difficult alpine walls.
The two teams — one comprised of Corrado “Korra” Pesce, of Italy, and Tomás “Tommy” Aguiló, of Argentina, and the other of three Italians, David Bacci, Matteo Della Bordella and Matteo “Giga” De Zaiacomo — had climbed within 200 feet of each other for several days. The friends joined forces for roughly the final 1,000 feet of the mountain, where the two routes merged, with Pesce in the lead. They all summitted within 30 minutes of each other that evening.
As Bordella described on alpinist.com, “This is not only a great dream, but it is certainly the most beautiful, important and difficult route we have ever traveled in our lives … Opening these routes, for Korra, as it was for me, was a reason to live.”
But these incredible triumphs were immediately followed by tragedy that shocked and saddened climbers the world over.
Shortly after congratulating one another, Pesce and Aguiló began rappelling the north face. The sub-freezing nighttime temperatures, they reasoned, would offer some safety from rockfall and icefall while they descended. The other team would bivouac on the summit and rappel the southeast ridge the following day.
While Pesce and Aguiló rappelled in the dark, however, a massive chunk of ice and rock broke loose from above, battering the climbers. Pesce was gravely injured and unable to move; Aguiló was hurt but mobile. Most of their gear had been swept away, including their satellite communication device.
It’s hard to imagine a more exposed and frightening position.
Aguiló’s only reasonable option was to stabilize Pesce and continue down alone, albeit with zero margin for error. Encumbered by injuries — a punctured lung, broken clavicle and ribs, among others — and the little gear he had left, the descent proved painfully slow. By that evening, roughly 24 hours after they had summitted, 1,000 feet of rappelling still remained to reach the glacier.
By then, Bordella, Bacci and Zaiacomo — extremely fatigued from their climb (and 30 rappels) — had reached the base of the wall and were horrified to learn of the accident. A rescue party had been scrambled and were already en route to the face, where Bordella used his drone to pinpoint Aguiló’s location.
Then, in an almost super-human effort, he led the rescue party back up 7 pitches of difficult and dangerous terrain to reach Aguiló before an incoming storm. While others helped Aguiló descend, Bordella and Roger Schaeli, a Swiss alpinist, stayed on the wall through cold and wind in hopes of finding Pesce.
“I could hardly look after myself in those conditions,” wrote Bordella on alpinist.com. He began hallucinating from exhaustion. And with no sign of Pesce, they knew they must go down. “We understand that Korra will remain forever on that mountain.”
In all, more than 40 people were involved in the rescue. “It was the most impressive team effort I have ever witnessed,” wrote Schaeli on Instagram.
In a memorial on planetmountain.com it’s written, “Corrado ‘Korra’ Pesce was one of the most sincere, pure and humble mountaineers of all. He didn’t just complete huge climbs without making any fuss whatsoever, he was also happy for and motived by the successes of others … he was loved and respected by everyone.”
While Pesce’s résumé is why the world took notice, it was the quality of his friendships and his enduring nature — his kindness, curiosity, compassion and drive — that will be mourned and missed.
Contact Chris Weidner at cweidner8@gmail.com. Follow him on Instagram @christopherweidner and Twitter @cweidner8.
